Context: Procalcitonin, a well-known biomarker of sepsis and bacterial infections, is produced by adipose tissue and has potential as a marker for chronic low-grade inflammation. Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate whether plasma procalcitonin levels in the normal range are associated with obesity, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome (MS) in the general population. Methods: Plasma procalcitonin (0.006 -0.1 ng/ml) was measured in 3197 men and 3638 women (aged 28 -75

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... yr) of the Prevention of Renal and Vascular End-Stage Disease (PREVEND) study using an ultrasensitive immunoluminometric assay. MS was defined according to Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Results: Median (interquartile range) plasma procalcitonin was 0.018 (0.015-0.022) ng/ml in men and 0.014 (0.012-0.017) ng/ml in women (P Ͻ 0.001). Plasma procalcitonin was positively associated with body mass index and waist circumference. In both sexes, cross-sectional associations of plasma procalcitonin with insulin resistance and components of the MS remained significant after adjustment for age, body mass index, waist circumference, and other covariates. The age-adjusted odds ratio (OR) for MS was 3.2 [95% confidence interval (CI) ϭ 2.5-4.2) in men and 4.1 (95% CI ϭ 3.0 -5.5) in women, when comparing the highest with the lowest quartile of plasma procalcitonin. The multivariate-adjusted OR for MS was 1.9 (95% CI ϭ 1.4 -2.6) in men and 2.3 (95% CI ϭ 1.6 -3.3) in women. The multivariate-adjusted OR for insulin resistance was 3.3 (95% CI ϭ 2.4 -4.3) in men and 2.5 (95% CI ϭ 1.9 -3.4) in women. Conclusions : Elevated plasma procalcitonin levels in the normal range are associated with measures of obesity, insulin resistance, and MS in the general population. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 95: E26 -E31, 2010) Abbreviations: BMI, Body mass index; CI, confidence interval; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; HOMA-IR, homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; IQR, interquartile range. J C E M O N L I N E H o t T o p i c s i n T r a n s l a t i o n a l E n d o c r i n o l o g y -E n d o c r i n e R e s e a r c h E26 jcem.endojournals.org J Clin Endocrinol Metab, September 2010, 95(9):E26 -E31 E28 Abbasi et al. Procalcitonin and Metabolic Syndrome J Clin Endocrinol Metab, September 2010, 95(9):E26 -E31 P values are based on 2 test for categorical data, Spearman rank correlation for ordinal data, and ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis for continuous data, depending on the normality of the data, which are presented as mean Ϯ SD or median (IQR). J Clin Endocrinol Metab, September 2010, 95(9):E26 -E31 jcem.endojournals.org E29 E30 Abbasi et al. Procalcitonin and Metabolic Syndrome J Clin Endocrinol Metab, September 2010, 95(9):E26 -E31 Share Your Good News! Job change? Promotion? Award? Help Endocrine News spread the word. endocrinenews@endo-society.org. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, September 2010, 95(9):E26 -E31 jcem.endojournals.org E31